Current automated product dispensing systems, such as prescription dispensing systems and the like, generally employ a transporting conveyor which receives empty containers such as bottles or vials. A portion of such a conventional system is depicted in FIG. 1 to include a conveyor A and a labeling station B where the containers are labeled prior to passing to a dispensing station C where they are filled. These systems rely on one or two induction points at an independent container unscrambling or labeling station. At the induction point, empty containers are loaded into an unscrambling assembly which orients them for labeling. A labeling unit such as station B then applies an order-specific label to each empty container, and the labeled containers are deposited onto a conveyor, such as A, for transport to a dispensing station C. In the case of prescription dispensing systems, the label includes patient-specific information. Alternatively, a bar code on the labeled container may be read and matched or “married” by a computer to a carrier or puck equipped with a radio frequency identification (RFID) device. Thereafter, the computer database associates the RFID device of the carrier with the bar code label on the container. The carrier with its mated container is then deposited onto a conveyor for transport to a dispensing station. Once labeled and mated with a carrier, the container proceeds via conveyor to a designated manual or automated dispensing station that contains a supply of the product designated on the label. Each dispensing location is provided with a respective dispensing unit that is equipped with structure such as a spout for dispensing objects or medication in the form of pills, tablets, gel caps or any other suitable “countable” unit. The objects or medications may be pre-counted by dispensing into a temporary holder unit or receiver which discharges its pre-counted contents into the container, or they may be counted as they are dispensed directly into the container. The filled container, or filled container with mated carrier puck, is then passed onto a conveyor for further processing. The container label bar code or carrier RFID is verified by computer comparison of the encoded information with order information contained in a computer database. If verification is satisfactory, the product container is then sealed and/or capped. Depending on the number of items in an order, these completed containers may be individually packed for shipping or accumulated with other containers in an order accumulation device and then packed for shipping.
These prior systems thus divert the labeled containers or labeled containers with married carriers into a designated area where they form a queue, such as queue D shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, at the dispensing unit E having a supply of the objects or medications indicated on the label for the container to be filled. This dedicated dispensing unit then dispenses the preselected object or pharmaceutical into the container. If a labeled container or married carrier with labeled container are destined for a particular dispensing unit and the queue for that dispensing unit is full, however, the container or carrier with container must recirculate in the master lane and return to the same dispensing unit several minutes later. In some cases, the vial and carrier must recirculate through the system more than once because, by the time they return to the dispensing unit queue, the queue is full. These traffic flow problems inevitably cause gaps in product dispensing, during which time no container or puck with container is present and the dedicated dispensing unit is required to wait for arrival of the next fillable container. This prevents the dispensing units from continuous dispensing and impairs the overall efficiency of the system.
Accordingly, there is a need for a product dispensing system and method that allows induction of fillable containers into the system for filling at multiple fill points, enabling continuous dispensing of products from automated and manual dispensing units, that greatly improves traffic flow by shortening queues, minimizes recirculation of vials and carriers on the main line, and that minimizes the potential for single points of failure at common labeling and induction assemblies.